If They're Being Honest
by Scarlet Natalia
Summary: "James Potter has always sort of hated Lily Evans." A short look into the thoughts of James Potter and Lily Evans- a different type of spin on the usually pining and bitter character's views on each other. Reviews are lovely.


_"She smiles in a big way, the way a girl like that smiles- when the world is hers."- Dashboard Confessional_

James Potter has always sort of hated Lily Evans. And really, it all started with her smile. He knew that smile. That smile was the smile of a girl that had the world in the palm of her hand, who pulled the strings, and you were the marionette. You would go in any direction she pleased, you would _fall _at her feet, and you simply couldn't help it. That was the power of her hands, exemplified in the glistening of her pearly white teeth.

Then you move on to her eyes. They're wide and green like a "Granny Smith" apple, full of life and love, though he can never be sure it's directed at him. But he knows it's there, he _sees _it, there's a longing in her eyes like he's never seen in anyone else'. He sees that she hungers for something, something so much bigger than anyone can possibly provide. And because of this that hunger coalesces with a hint of fear and vulnerability. She possesses a vulnerability that every man seeks to change, to fix, because that's what men _do. _

Only she won't let them. She won't let _him. _Lily Evans does not need assistance, she does not need charity, and she does not need love. Love doesn't fix things, love causes fissures. Love disintegrates eyes that are full of charm; love morphs them to puddles of useless mass. Love breaks.

That's the thing about Lily Evans. She is perfect. She is put together, and brilliant. She is perfection epitomized into a petite form and she brings this inexorable _joy _with her. She makes you unbearably happy, she laughs like the sun will never shine on her again, and she _lives. _She makes you live, she makes you _breathe_ for the first time. And this makes her intoxicating, enticing, and utterly irresistible.

James Potter hates birds that are irresistible. He hates those that never _break. _He just doesn't believe in them, doesn't understand how so many hearts are susceptible to the tangles of an intriguing girl.

And yet, James can't resist her either. _James _is head over heels in love with fire, wit, and charm. James has never been so enamored by another human being in his entire existence. Lily Evans does not give James the time of day and yet James has never wanted anyone more. He has never been presented with so much raw desire as he is when he is faced with the evergreen eyes of Lily Evans.

James Potter hates Lily Evans for making him fall in love with her. And yet, he loves her for the hatred, because it is so dreadfully sexy.

* * *

><p><em>"I've got this friend, I don't think you know her. She sings a simple song, it sounds a lot like his."- The Civil Wars<em>

Lily Evans is tired of people assuming that she hates James Potter. She doesn't, at all, honestly. She hates many things _about_ him- she hates his egotistical personality, his arrogant charm, his bullying antics, she hates that he makes her want to scream. But she doesn't hate _him, _exactly. No, that's not it at all.

James Potter has an intoxicating effect on people. With his messy (artfully tousled, she's almost sure of it) hair and his bright brown eyes which are just _so_ _appealing, _he is easily the most attractive man she knows. But it's not his looks that attract her; it's his _charisma_ (for lack of a better term). He is incredible with words (It really should be a crime to know _that many_ different terms for beauty) and he has confidence that makes him a _man. _Lily, the poor thing, is left breathless and overwhelmed when the boy courts her with phrases like "Absolve my aching heart, my beautiful." So she forces a scowl and mutters her biting retorts, hoping he can't see her ruby colored face and the ghost of a her gentle smile.

James Potter is admirable. He is handsome, he is unbearably funny, and he makes her smile (_Most _of the time). Therefore, it is simply not logical to say that Lily hates him at all. No, on the contrary, she finds him impressive. Only, Lily detests impressive things, she loathes people who _are_ impressive or who _think _they are impressive because they drive her mad. But honestly, in her book, the phrase is "hate the crime, not the criminal" and that is how she looks at the world.

The only conclusion that can be drawn from this simple fact as that Lily likes Potter but despises certain elements about his person. This leads to the thought that Lily really _shouldn't _like James Potter, she _shouldn't _find him amusing, and she _definitely _should not find him attractive. Which leads to the inevitable end, Lily is angry with **Lily** for _lovin_g James Potter, which, in turn, makes her angry at Potter which leads her to scream at the bloke and defend her friend in hopes of redeeming herself.

Does that make sense?

Lily Evans does _not _hate James Potter, Lily Evans hates Lily Evans. But no one seems to really understand it.


End file.
